Buggins's turn
(Redirected from Buggins' turn)
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Earliest recorded use is by Admiral Fisher, later First Sea Lord, in a 1901 letter.
'Buggins' is a humorous invented surname, suggestive of a man of mediocre ability.
Noun
[edit]- (idiomatic, British) A humorous, disparaging term for the appointment of a person by rotation or promotion, on the basis of length of service (it being that person's "turn") rather than merit or level of qualification.
- He will be appointed on the principle of Buggins's turn.
- 1919, Memories, John Fisher (reprinting a 1917 letter to him from an unnamed Privy Councillor) [1]
- I remembered your old saying "Some day the Empire will go down because it is Buggins's turn."'